Quinn’s Chief of Staff Emails Point to 2010 Political Connection to Community Grants

An email from Republican candidate for Governor Bruce Rauner:

Emails from Quinn’s chief of staff expose politics behind NRI

New emails show Quinn’s Chief of Staff rushing NRI rollout while coordinating with Quinn’s campaign manager, communications director and brother;

Quinn Chief of Staff had tried to conceal these emails, may be concealing more emails including direct communication with Quinn

Bruce Rauner

Bruce Rauner

CHICAGO – In a shocking development moments ago, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn’s former chief of staff and close confidante Jack Lavin turned over emails that for the first time clearly show direct coordination between the governor’s top government aide and the governor’s campaign with respect to the rollout of the $55 million Neighborhood Recovery Initiative (NRI) – currently the subject of two federal grand jury investigations.

According to the emails released previously, on September 2, 2010, Quinn’s former chief of staff instructed governor’s office staff to work on the development of NRI over the weekend because “time is off the essence.”

We now know from the secret Lavin emails released today that three days later, on September 5, 2010, Lavin emailed Quinn’s campaign manager, communications director and brother that the key to Quinn’s electoral victory was “trying to get the base out” and that the “Gov’s Neighborhood Recovery Initiative” would key to the campaign’s messaging to the African American community.

“Governor Quinn’s chief of staff tried to conceal these emails but got caught red-handed,” Rauner campaign spokesperson Mike Schrimpf said.

“These emails are the tip of the iceberg but one thing is now clear – the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative had nothing to do with policy and everything to do with politics.

“It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that two federal grand juries are investigating the blatant diversion of millions of taxpayer dollars to support the governor’s election. It’s time for Pat Quinn to turn over all of his electronic communications from 2010 so we can finally find out what he knew and when he knew it.”

The emails were turned over under compulsory subpoena by the Illinois Legislative Audit Commission.

In July, Lavin’s attorney told the Commission that Lavin had no relevant emails to hand over – but lawmakers discovered a trail of emails forwarded to a personal email account, which led to today’s submission. No one knows how many other emails Lavin may be concealing and, to date, no one has produced the direct electronic communications between senior staff and Quinn regarding NRI.

The emails were posted this morning to the Illinois Legislative Audit Commission’s website

BACKGROUND ON NEW QUINN CHIEF OF STAFF EMAILS

On Thursday, September 2, 2010 Jack Lavin Instructed Governor’s Office Staffers To Work On The Neighborhood Recovery Initiative Over The Weekend, Saying “Time Is Of The Essence.” “We need to get someone to write up the neighborhood recovery initiative and get a draft with components. Can Jason and Sohair do this? If they get materials by tomorrow, can they work on it over the weekend? Time is of the essence. We also need to meet with Warren tomorrow. Let me know. Tanks.” (Jack Lavin Email, 9/2/10)

On Sunday, September 5, 2010 while Emailing With Quinn’s Campaign Manager And Other Staff About How To Gin Up Quinn’s Base To Turn Out And Vote, Lavin Says “The Gov’s Neighborhood Recovery Initiative Will Also Help.”

“If we are trying to get the base out and that’s the key to our victory, we better prioritize correctly. We spent a lot of money in the AA community in the primary. We did a lot of robocalls utilizing Congressmen Davis, Rush and Jackson. We also did radio with the same people. Obama can be positive and get people to be more excited about PQ. The Congressmen and an ad like Andy suggests (from a typical AA family particularly women) can say why Brady would be a disaster. The AA community tends to break late so we have some time. The Gov’s Neighborhood Recovery Initiative will also help on the jobs and anti-violence messages.” (Jack Lavin Email, 9/5


Comments

Quinn’s Chief of Staff Emails Point to 2010 Political Connection to Community Grants — 5 Comments

  1. I fail to see how this is shocking.

    Crooks.

    Period.

    We all knew and told you so.

    Didn’t the Bible tell us that in these times nothing that was done in secret will be kept hidden.

    1Corinthians 4:5

  2. And people still have a problem voting for Rauner?

    I guess you really can’t fix ‘stupid’.

  3. This is exactly why government employees should be forbidden from using non-government email addresses for official correspondence.

    Closer to home, I complained more than once about Woodstock City Council members replying from their personal email addresses.

  4. A little jig to a pig called Bruce
    (or to the Republican voters of McHenry County)

    An old women bought a little pig,
    Oink, oink, oink, – oink, oink, oink!
    An old women bought a little pig,
    It didn’t cost much, ‘cause it wasn’t very big,
    Oink, oink, oink – oink, oink, oink!

    Soon that pig did lot’s of harm,
    Oink, oink, oink, – oink, oink, oink!
    Soon that pig did lot’s of harm,
    As it ran around the farm,
    Oink, oink, oink – oink, oink, oink!

    An old woman chased that pig,
    Oink, oink, oink – oink, oink, oink!
    An old woman chased that pig,
    He was hard to catch, ‘cause he wasn’t very big,
    Oink, oink, oink – oink, oink, oink!

    Then the woman sold her pig,
    Oink, oink, oink – oink, oink, oink!
    Then the woman sold her pig,
    She went back home and danced a jig,
    Oink, oink, oink – oink, oink, oink!

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